4 Room Bto Simple Home

[Fam 0]

Hi Arnold, please share your contractor Boon's contact. Thanks in advance.

Your reno blog is v detailed and interesting!

[arnold 0]

Review of Contractor

While providing reviews of the work, I thought it will be good to review the experience that I have with Boon.

What He Did Well

Personalising Your Home

I liked the fact that he tries to personalise the home to the owner. I will be using the shoe cabinet as an example here. If you guys remember, I spoke about how he asked for our shoe sizes and the type of shoes that we wear. During one of the times I met him during the middle part of the renovation, I asked whether does he customise the shoe cabinets to small feet too. He said that there is a usual industry standard that is followed by most contractors. He uses the standards as a minimum. He tries to avoid going below this standard unless requested by the home owners. When asked why, he explained that you get the best price for carpentry when you follow the industrial norms. Any further customisation usually requires additional costs, as the carpenters will have to cater specially to your required dimension of wood.

Some other areas that I did not mention were: (1) how he asked me to stand at my shower area with my hands stuck at my waist so that he can be sure that we have enough shower space after installing the shower screen; and (2) making sure that there were no tall people staying at my place. Why? You might ask. He explained that sliding screens will have a metal bar across the top of the screens, so it will be necessary to know the tallest person staying so that he can make sure that no one injures their head.

Emphasis on Safety and Hygiene

One of the example was given in the previous para.Some other examples were how he noted the potential danger of the position of the shower screen opening vs the position of the shower mixer, and also the reason why a floating shoe cabinet was not preferred. Honestly, I really appreciate him for providing us with this kind of input. As a new home owner, I am sure that many of us do not have the kind of experience to notice this. One of our family members might have been injured if we did not know about this before.

Response Time

Boon was really quick to respond to any of our queries during the renovation. We read many horror stories about how the IDs or contractors will take days to reply to a msg after signing the deal. We were glad that Boon replied to our msgs within the hour. Truth be said, we were usually slower in responding to his clarifications and requests!

Timeline

All in all, my renovation took about 3 months.

Are you serious? 3 months with this scope of works and you say he did well?

Actually, the cause of the long timeline was none other than myself! During the early stages, Boon already told us what and when he required us to provide him with (lights, fans, sanitary stuff etc). But because we were not in a hurry to move, plus it was the CNY period, we simply relaxed and took our own sweet time! He had to remind me many times about this before we finally got him the stuff that he needed. We took about a month to get him the lights and another 2 to 3 weeks for the rest of the stuff like sanitary ware and hob and hood. Considering this, our renovation could have been completed within 6 weeks if we did not delay the provision of items.

We usually pop up to our place a couple of days after we provide him with the necessary stuff and works were already ongoing. Using the example of lights, he took less than a week to install them after we provided it to him!

What Can Be Improved

Lack of Interior Design Knowledge

While he gives good suggestions on how you can do up your place, the truth is, he is not an interior designer. He doesn't have knowledge on the different themes like Scandinavian or Industrial. You can show him pictures to give him examples, but he might not be able to understand them fully. But well, he is a contractor after all, and this is to be expected right?

Lack of Proper Project Management Tools

Boon managed my project quite well actually. However, all scheduled works were updated via verbal means, at most through whatsapp. There were no fancy project timeline charts like what you see in this picture.

Coming from a work area where I was extremely used to having project timelines, I found it a bit worrying at first. I wasn't sure whether he really have the capacity to manage the different projects without the project management different tools. Things could get a bit tense sometimes if the understanding from both parties were not aligned. I am glad to say that I did not experience this very often.

Conclusion

So there you have it, a short review on Boon. I will be happy to answer any further queries if there are any.

Edited May 3, 2015 by arnold

[homesweethome96 0]

Hihi Arnold!

Can you pls pm me ah boon's contacts?

Thank you in advance!

[kekmek 0]

Hi Arnold, can share your contractor's contacts pls.

Thanks. If you dont mind, sharing your quotes as well.

[Val 0]

Hi, can you share Contractor Boon's contact with me? Thanks!

[weiyan 0]

Hi Arnold great write up. Thanks for the details which are v v helpful for noobs like me who know nuts about Reno ! Can share your contractor details? Thanks in advance !

[tangle 0]

Hi,

Can you share contractor Boon's contact details please.

Thank you!

[kaino86 1]

Hi,

Can I have your contractor's details as well? Thank you

[yiping1982 0]

Hi Arnold, Please share your contractor's contacts and quotes if you don't mind. Thanks.

[Doraemon1314 0]

Hi Arnold, Mind sharing your contractor's contact via PM? Thanks! ! !

[Donno 0]

Hi Arnold, would you mind sharing with me your contractor Boon contact & your budget? Thanks.

[Auckerian 0]

I like the way you approach your renovation. Your mantra is same as mine. Haha. Could you pm me Contractor Boon's contract please? Thanks!

[nolifesg 1]

Hi Armold,

Do you mind showing me how your bedroom wardrobe interior look like? I am thinking of doing the same. Can you pm me your contractor contact as well? Thanks!

[arnold 0]

Hi Armold,

Do you mind showing me how your bedroom wardrobe interior look like? I am thinking of doing the same. Can you pm me your contractor contact as well? Thanks!

Ah I didnt take a picture of it. will try to remember the next time i go up

[Erickkk 0]

Hi,

Could you please PM me your contractor Boon contact?

Thanks